Requires healthcare facilities to maintain a fifty percent operating threshold of certain reusable healthcare protective textiles in their inventory unless a reprieve is provided for supply chain issues; provides a fine may be assessed for failure to comply, as determined by the commissioner.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6995
SPONSOR: Septimo TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring health-
care facilities to maintain a fifty percent operating threshold of
certain reusable healthcare protective textiles in their inventory
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Requires healthcare facilities to maintain a 50% operating threshold of
reusable protective textiles in their inventory.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of this bill adds a subdivision 14 to section 2803 of the
public health law to ensure all subsequently defined healthcare facili-
ties ( hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient care centers,
long-term care facilities, physical therapy centers, comprehensive
outpatient rehabilitation facilities, end-stage renal disease facili-
ties, hospice, physician's offices, non-physician provider's offices,
and laboratories) maintain an operating threshold of at least 50 percent
of all reusable personal protective equipment (PPE) as provided by a
certified hygienically clean laundry.
Section two of this bill sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The COV1D-19 Pandemic highlighted the hazards of relying on far-away
supply chains to meet the needs of healthcare systems, risking dangerous
shortages. These shortages were driven by a sudden increase in consump-
tion, compounded by factory closures and other disruption along the
global supply chain. Essential workers and the public rely on the ready
availability of safe PPE in our systems at all times. Given the likeli-
hood of future supply chain disruptions, and the inevitability of
continued impacts, of climate change, it is imperative systems develop
systems better equipped to withstand shortage.
Currently, reports indicate the U.S. market currently uses disposable
healthcare textiles (HCT) in more than 90% of uses in which reusable
HCTs would be an equivalent or superior substitute. The emergence of
COVID-19 led many to study alternatives to the current reliance on
disposable HCT, and recent results continue to show that where possible,
properly used and cleaned reusable PPE does not reduce efficacy to
levels that increase risk of pathogen exposure. Reusable textiles proc-
essed by Hygienically Clean certified laundries can form a safer and
more sustainable supply chain than often foreign-sourced disposable
HCTs.
During the pandemic many healthcare facilities addressed shortages by
supplementing disposables. with greater percentages of reusable
textiles. Research and recent practice show that a switch to higher
proportions of reusable textiles is efficient, effective, and safe.
Standardizing practices will help build up greater supply chain sustain-
ability, in turn protecting healthcare systems from risk of future PPE
shortages, saving money, and reducing waste.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6995
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 10, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SEPTIMO, STIRPE -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring health-
care facilities to maintain a fifty percent operating threshold of
certain reusable healthcare protective textiles in their inventory
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 2803 of the public health law is amended by adding
2 a new subdivision 14 to read as follows:
3 14. (a) The commissioner shall ensure that all healthcare facilities
4 as defined in paragraph (b) of this subdivision possess and maintain an
5 operating threshold of at least fifty percent of all reusable personal
6 protective equipment (PPE) as provided by a hygienically clean laundry
7 service provider; provided, however, that upon request, the department
8 may grant an extension or reprieve, at its sole and exclusive discretion
9 if the healthcare facility demonstrates, to the commissioner's satisfac-
10 tion, that such healthcare facility's inability to meet such requirement
11 is solely attributable to supply chain issues that are beyond the hospi-
12 tal's control and purchasing PPE at market rates would facilitate price
13 gouging by PPE vendors.
14 (b) For purposes of this subdivision, the following terms shall have
15 the following meanings:
16 (i) "healthcare facility" shall mean hospitals, skilled nursing facil-
17 ities, outpatient care centers, long-term care facilities, physical
18 therapy centers, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities,
19 end-stage renal disease facilities, hospice, physician's offices, non-
20 physician provider's offices, and laboratories;
21 (ii) "personal protective equipment (PPE)" shall mean any protective
22 textile which is available in reusable format, where deemed feasible and
23 acceptable, consistent with federal Centers for Disease Control guid-
24 ance; and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11130-01-3
A. 6995 2
1 (iii) "operating threshold" shall mean a constantly rotating stock of
2 PPE textiles being used, returned to a laundry facility, processed by a
3 hygienically clean certified facility, and returned to a healthcare
4 facility for use.
5 (c) Failure to possess and maintain such a supply of PPE may result in
6 a fine to be determined by the department; provided, however, that no
7 such revocation or suspension shall be ordered unless the department has
8 provided the healthcare facility with a thirty-day grace period, to
9 achieve compliance with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subdi-
10 vision.
11 § 2. This act shall take effect one year after it shall have become a
12 law.
